This blog discusses health and life issues important to women. Content includes info about adventure travel, nutrition, aging, menopause and much more

Monday, March 5, 2012

5 Top Tips for Relieving Your Menopause Symptoms

So you’ve hit menopause and now you’re speculating what to do next. Or it could be that you just SUPPOSE that your sliding into menopause (peri-menopause) because you’re beginning to go through any of the myriad of symptoms, like hot flashes, night perspiration, restlessness, fatigue, reduced sex drive, mood swings, and ruthless weight gain.

The good news is that we now live in a era when menopause is no longer a forbidden subject. We are more at ease speaking about it with our friends, better halfs, spouses and doctors. There are more channels than ever to help aid us in our change. The bad news is that there are a lot of prescribed “old” Western medical approaches to menopause relief that are certainly unsafe and sure to be kept clear of whenever feasible.

The beauty of menopause, however, is that it is the moment when most women are blossoming into the fullness of their personal identity– eg: what they want out of life, what hopes and talents they want to bring to life, what desires they want to fulfill. They spent their 20s and 30s defining themselves as wife, mother, best friend, and dependable employee, but the midlife change ushers them into a new age– the Age of Wisdom– and here are 5 little morsels of wisdom for you to get you through this transformation with gusto:

Tip 1: Move Your Body!
Even a gentle walk every day for 20 minutes (outdoors preferably) will go a long way towards sustaining your muscle tone and bone density. Walking can help you lower your bad cholesterol and boost the good, reduce your blood pressure, help manage your weight and even improve your attitude. What’s more is that if you do it outside, you also get the advantage of natural Vitamin D which is vital to your immune system and also helps to prevent cancer. (info derived from “The Mayo Clinic” and “Medical News Today”).

Tip 2: Eat a Healthy Diet
There is a LOT of false information out there about what’s good for your body nutritionwise. If your sole source of nutritional knowledge comes from the “News at 10″ or our Nation’s latest food pyramid, it’s vital to begin doing a bit of analysis on your own. Some credible sources are Dr. Mercola’s site or our own “Sugar Control Diet” which is not only time-tested for weight loss, but also for balancing hormones (so important for menopause symptom relief!), as well as reducing inflammation and even identifying foods that may be causing digestive distress.

Tip 3: Indulge in A Bit Of “Me” Time
Menopause often gets a bad reputation because we’re so deluged with details about the unseemly parts. But let’s try to encounter its “good” aspects. For example, as we mentioned before, now is a time when women are coming into their own. They know themselves better. They often have more unencumbered time because their children need less managing– and so they can write that autobiography they never wrote, or attend that class they never had time for in previous times. They can erect that new fufilling career or find their real purpose and passion that infuses them. And part of birthing this new “you” is learning how to take care of yourself and your needs better. So start laying down the law with some 100 % ME time. Put in some earplugs, declare it a no-kid-zone, and go take a luxurious bubble bath by candlelight. Go to your local gymnasium and indulge in some sauna time. Get a Thai massage– or better yet, some reflexology! As Tony Robbins puts it, schedule your own “Hour of Power” or “Thirty Minutes to Thrive” … if you can’t do that, at least schedule some “Fifteen Minutes for Fulfillment”! Everyone can find 15 minutes in their schedule somewhere. But schedule it and make it a “must” for yourself. It will calm your nerves, refresh your body, and revitalize your soul.

Tip 4: Abstain from Caffeine, Alcohol & Nicotine
If you indulge in excessive use of caffeine or alcohol or any intake at all of cigarette smoke (first or second hand), you should know that these substances irritate menopause backlashes. Caffeine & Alcohol serve to increase hot flashes, panic attacks, restlessness and bone lessening during the critical menopause & perimenopausal years. Caffeine especially upsets mineral absorption and enhances stress. Alcohol ruthlessly dehydrates you (never a good thing!) and is an “magnifier”– so if you’re already feeling depressed, alcohol will “magnify” that depression and make it worse. It will take your menopausal anxiety and increase that too. And you may think it helps you sleep, but when the sugar spike in your blood system finally crashes (alcohol = sugar), you will awaken in the middle of the night and find it difficult to go back to sleep.

And did you know that nicotine ingestion is the primary factor in causing premature menopause (before age 45) in women?!? PLUS it increases the risk of bone loss and heart disease. The deadly-three of Caffeine, Alcohol & Nicotine are sure to be avoided.